Order of Book Series
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C.P. Snow Books in Order

25 books are credited to C.P. Snow, published between 1932 and 1981; 1 of them appeared after C.P. Snow's death in 1980. The first book is Death Under Sail (1932) and the newest is The Physicists (1981). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
25
Published
1932–1981
Pages on record
6,717 in 23 of 25 books
Reading time
112–168 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,717 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 23 of 25 titles with a page count on record.

See all 25 books in order Printable C.P. Snow checklist

C.P. Snow was an English novelist and physical chemist who also held posts in the British Civil Service and, briefly, in government. Death Under Sail (1932), a yachting mystery, opens a catalogue of 25 books. Strangers and Brothers is the sequence Snow is known for; the catalogue also holds George Passant (1940), Time of Hope (1949), The Masters (1951) and Homecomings (1956). The 1959 lecture The Two Cultures set out the gulf between scientists and literary intellectuals. Snow lived from 1905 to 1980.

How many C.P. Snow books are there?

C.P. Snow has 25 books, released between 1932 and 1981. 1 of them were published after C.P. Snow's death in 1980. 11 of them belong to the Strangers and Brothers series.

C.P. Snow Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 25 C.P. Snow books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Death Under Sail by C.P. Snow (1932)
  2. Cover of The Search by C.P. Snow (1932)
  3. Cover of George Passant by C.P. Snow, book 1 of the Strangers and Brothers series (1940)
  4. Cover of The Light and the Dark by C.P. Snow, book 2 of the Strangers and Brothers series (1947)
  5. Cover of Time of Hope by C.P. Snow, book 3 of the Strangers and Brothers series (1949)
  6. Cover of The Masters by C.P. Snow, book 4 of the Strangers and Brothers series (1951)
  7. Cover of The New Men by C.P. Snow, book 5 of the Strangers and Brothers series (1954)
  8. Cover of Homecomings by C.P. Snow, book 6 of the Strangers and Brothers series (1956)
  9. Cover of The Affair by C.P. Snow, book 8 of the Strangers and Brothers series (1960)
  10. Cover of The Two Cultures/A Second Look by C.P. Snow (1963)
  11. Cover of Corridors of Power by C.P. Snow, book 9 of the Strangers and Brothers series (1964)
  12. Cover of The Sleep of Reason by C.P. Snow, book 10 of the Strangers and Brothers series (1969)
  13. Cover of Last Things by C.P. Snow, book 11 of the Strangers and Brothers series (1970)
  14. Cover of Public Affairs by C.P. Snow (1971)
  15. Cover of The Malcontents by C.P. Snow (1972)
  16. Cover of In Their Wisdom by C.P. Snow (1974)
  17. Cover of Trollope by C.P. Snow (1975)
  18. Cover of The Realists by C.P. Snow (1978)
  19. Cover of A Coat of Varnish by C.P. Snow (1979)
  20. Cover of The Physicists by C.P. Snow (1981)
  1. 1
    Death Under Sail1932 · 236 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1932236
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Search1932 · 311 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1932311
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    George PassantStrangers and Brothers #11940 · 340 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1940340
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Light and the DarkStrangers and Brothers #21947 · 394 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1947394
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Time of HopeStrangers and Brothers #31949 · 398 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1949398
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The MastersStrangers and Brothers #41951 · 360 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1951360
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The New MenStrangers and Brothers #51954 · 292 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1954292
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    HomecomingsStrangers and Brothers #61956 · 370 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1956370
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Conscience of the RichStrangers and Brothers #71958 · 316 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1958316
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution1959 · confirmed 2/4
    1959–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The AffairStrangers and Brothers #81960 · 362 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1960362
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Science and Government1961 · 114 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1961114
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Two Cultures/A Second Look1963 · 107 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1963107
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Corridors of PowerStrangers and Brothers #91964 · 380 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1964380
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  15. 15
    Variety of Men1967 · 223 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1967223
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  16. 16
    The State of Siege1969 · 50 pages · confirmed 2/4
    196950
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  17. 17
    The Sleep of ReasonStrangers and Brothers #101969 · 452 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1969452
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Last ThingsStrangers and Brothers #111970 · 396 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1970396
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Public Affairs1971 · 224 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1971224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The Malcontents1972 · 190 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1972190
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    In Their Wisdom1974 · 358 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1974358
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Trollope1975 · confirmed 2/4
    1975–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    The Realists1978 · 336 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1978336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    A Coat of Varnish1979 · 356 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1979356
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    The Physicists1981 · 152 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981152
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

C.P. Snow books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Strangers and Brothers in order

11 books
  1. 1. George Passant
  2. 2. The Light and the Dark
  3. 3. Time of Hope
  4. 4. The Masters
  5. 5. The New Men
  6. 6. Homecomings
  7. 7. The Conscience of the Rich
  8. 8. The Affair
  9. 9. Corridors of Power
  10. 10. The Sleep of Reason
  11. 11. Last Things

Standalone books

14 books

14 C.P. Snow titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read C.P. Snow books in order?

You only need to read C.P. Snow books in order within the Strangers and Brothers series, which holds 11 of the 25 C.P. Snow books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with C.P. Snow

Start with Death Under Sail (1932), the earliest published title.

What is the newest C.P. Snow book?

The Physicists (1981) is the newest C.P. Snow book released so far.

Is there a new C.P. Snow book coming?

No next C.P. Snow book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards C.P. Snow has won

Wikidata records 1 award and 5 nominations for C.P. Snow. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • James Tait Black Memorial Prize1954Won
  • Booker Prize1974Shortlistedfor In Their Wisdom
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1965Shortlisted
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1964Shortlisted
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1963Shortlisted
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1961Shortlisted

C.P. Snow at a glance

Died
C.P. Snow died in 1980, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to C.P. Snow are still being published after C.P. Snow's death in 1980; the newest appeared in 1981.
Release pace
C.P. Snow books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
6,717 pages across the 23 of 25 books with a recorded length, a median of 336 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most C.P. Snow books, 7 of 25, were published in the 1970s.

What the C.P. Snow books are about

24 of the 25 C.P. Snow books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: fiction in english is tagged on 4 of 24. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.